(M:TG / Everway) Vi et Armis

[Asklepios]

Vi et Armis

Magic: The Gathering
- Everway -

I am painfully aware that I am already running Werewolf and Scion, and that these stories are woefully incomplete.

I am also aware that it is nearly impossible to get the same players together at one time, as life is very very busy for all of us at the moment. As I prefer to have all the players of a game present for any game session, this has meant that for the past 2 months, I have not gamed.

So, with this in mind, I decided on Wednesday 19 September that I was going to game, with whichever players were available... Readers of my other AP threads (yes, all three of you!) be aware that the other games aren't closed - I intend to return to them as soon as we can get the right players together.

So why am I running this game?


Star Wars Saga... *Yawn*

Basically, the Monday previous I was in the situaton of having four players present who were not in the same game. Wanting to try something new, we whipped out Star Wars: Saga and made characters. The thing is, even with the new and streamlined character generation, it still took 4-5 hours, and the entire evening disappeared into the chargen process. At the end of this process the four characters still looked like they had been cookie-cut from a cliche-mould, and I was feeling quite uninspired. Mike then chimed in, citing that he had a significant amount of D20-fatigue, and wasn't actually too keen to play. To be honest, the crunch was getting us down, and we were feeling worn out by the needless complexity of D20.

On the drive back home we chatted... what were we actually looking for from a game these days?


Conversations in a Ford Focus

Me: Essentially, I loathe learning new systems, unless they're really simple. I don't mind crunch and complexity, so long as everyone knows it inside out, so that I don't have to do in-game referencing, and so that the game doesn't get bogged down with long combats.
Mike: Well... what about that Everway game you bought a while back? We got as far as making the characters I think, but life got in the way as usual and we never got to play it.
Me: Yeah, it seemed ok, but a bit too artsy-fartsy hippy shit, if you know what I mean.
Mike: I don't know... you could do it with magic cards just as easy.
*brakes screech*
Me: Goddamit! That's brilliant! Why couldn't you have suggested that before we spent five hours sacrificing our free time to bloody D20?

Don't get me wrong - I've enjoyed D+D in the past, when I've had the right players. Sadly my premiere D&D player (the one who realy enthused, and got everyone else into it too) now lives elsewhere in the country, and a good number of the players I have left (Joby and Mike notably) can't stand D20 systems anymore.

Everway with Magic Cards, on the other hand, seemed a great idea. Simple and straightforward (maybe too simple, but I could do something about that), easy to learn, inspiring player creativity / imagination, unobtrusive when it came to game mechanics, and with an inbuilt cosmology.


To Work! (kind of)

It was decided... I would create a game, and present it the following Wednesday. If the players could not complete the character generation process inside of two hours, then I'd write it off and try something even simpler. I wanted to game, not just play the chargen game...

So over the next three days at work I created the system, plus a spangly character sheet.

I pushed out 10 A4 pages, containing an entire game system, strongly influenced by Everway, but with a Magic-based cosmology.

Here's the result...

[Asklepios]

The turnout for the day was Aimee, Mike and Pete.

Aimee, you may recall, was Lieutenant General Theodore Forrest from Wraith, as well as Natalya Vasilyeva from Scion and Asanda Oak from A Game of Thrones. She's a good player, with a preference from strong and charismatic male characters (though that's only evident in one out of three of the games linked above, admittedly).

Mike, I have known since I was 11, and his starring and best remembered role for us is as an Angel of Death in my homebrew fantasy game, that ran for the best part of 7 years. He was in AGOT, but only after the write-up ended prematurely (sorry!), and in Werewolf: The Forsaken, but only for the a portion fo the first chronicle which isn't in my current write-up!
He does have some presence here in Actual Play however: he is Commissar in Truth and Justice. Its a shame he's featured in so few write-ups, as he is probably the best immersive character-player I know.

Pete, in contrast has been a gamer in my group only a year or so longer than Aimee, but has an extended Actual Play presence. He is Berengar from A Game of Thrones, Howls in Shadow in my long running Werewolf chronicles, Quicksilver in Truth and Justice, Krakon Soldorak in Eberron and Teramak in Legends. Though Werewolf is the game I've seent he most of him in, I think he shined best when playing the slightly deranged Pablo Vasquez in Battle Royale. To be honest, "slightly deranged" sums up a lot of Pete's characters... which is why he is so much fun to game with.

Three excellent players ready to go, I laid out the setting...

[Asklepios]

Me: "For those of you that played it, this game shares a setting with the Legends game I ran a while back but never completed... It seemed a shame to waste a good setting, after all... "

A Realm of Legends
The Realm encompasses several hundred principalities, connected by wayportals and under the authority of the Empire. Each principality is ruled by a feudal lord, and these feudal lords in turn bend knee to the Emperor of Dragonthrone. Beyond the Realm lie other domains, some of whom are hold peace treaties with Dragonthrone, and others want to see nothing less than to lay waste to all its lands.

Me: "However, its also Magic: The Gathering, so the setting has now been retrofitted to fit the Magic cosmology... You all know how it works, its got the five opposed mana colours as the forces which empower reality, etc. etc. yada yada.

I go on to explain that the game is set (initially) in a domain they encountered only tangentially in Legends, named Ravenspear. The original game defined Ravenspear just as:

RAVENSPEAR: An imperialistic domain, centred on the city of Aeternum. Though Ravenspear is a feudal state of Dragonthrone, it is an empire of itself, with some dozen domains beneath its rule. Think Romans, but dressed in black.

Back in Legends the players encountered a Ravenspear 12th Legion camp in the Heartswood, and recruited them to their cause, before leading them into the orcish domain of Bloodpact and seeing them slaughtered to a man in an apocalyptic battle. Sadly this all happened after I stopped doing the write-ups...

This game would be centred on the domain of Ravenspear, and so the players needed some more information...


Aeternum, and Ravenspear

Ravenspear is a classic civilisation, built on imperialism and slavery, and is predominantly human. Before they encountered the (far larger) empire of Dragonthrone, they had many centuries of conquest and expansion, during which their legions brutally subjugated a dozen other lands.

It was less than a century ago that Ravenspear encountered Dragonthrone and warred against them, but Dragonthrone won out in less than a dozen years through sheer force of arms, and through superior magical prowess. Ravenspear is now a vassal state feudally subservient to Dragonthrone, and the Emperor of Ravenspear has been replaces by a Senate that is more occupied with infighting than conquest. The golden age of Ravenspear is over, but many within the realm dream of its return...

The capital city of Ravenspear is Aeternum, a city built on the five hills at the centre of the domain. It is said that the cities twin founders were raised by a flock of raven-faced beastmen, and that their brutal attitudes have resounded through the ages since then.

Aeternum is mana-balanced, with white, green, red, black and blue equally powerful because of the surrounding terrain. This is reflected in the city's attitudes and culture - the nobility of the soldier is balanced by the scheming of the criminal, and the refinement of patricians is equalled by the brutality of the gladiatorial arenas.

The Land of Ravenspear

To the Northwest of Aeternum are open plains, upon which the City-States of Ravenspear can be found. The most prominent of these is Caltha, and more than once during Ravenspear's history this city has tried to challenge Aeternum for rule of the Empire. Caltha houses a portal to the plane of Gateway, and it is through this gate that Ravenspear conducts much of its trade, and through which the safest and quickest planar paths to Dragonthrone can be found. Beyond Caltha the plains give way to the shining mists, where the land dissolves into white mana.

To the Northeast are the Pinewoods, which have been logged extensively but regrow rapidly thanks to the presence of the green-mana infused Tangleweed just beyond. The Pinewoods are a favourite hiding place for bandits, and the Legions must regularly cull their numbers to maintain order in the North-east.

To the Southeast and East are the Mountains of Flamepeak, and beyond them the endless volcanic inferno of the Forgelands. Within the Forgelands there is a gate to the Orcish realm of Bloodpact, which was sealed by Ravenspear priests long ago.

To the South are the Marshes of Sorrow, and in ancient labyrinths just beyond the Skullgates. These are deadlands, empty of civilisation save for the occasional Legion patrol.

To the Southwest is the Dream-mist Delta, and beyond that the Endless Ocean, with the Shattered Chain archipelago and the Silver Island that has the gateway to the open ocean realm of Brightwaters. It is through Brightwaters that gates to the subjugated provinces of Ravenspear can be found, including most notably distant Arabia.

[JoystickJunkies]

like the sound of this, could you post your rules somewhere?

[Asklepios]

Originally Posted by JoystickJunkies

like the sound of this, could you post your rules somewhere?

I may well do an rpg.net wiki, but I'm not sure of the legal grounds at present as the rules are so heavily derivative of Everway. I'll be posting excerpts to the thread as we go though...

[Asklepios]

Conceptualisation

The method I'd thrown together looked something like this:

Conceptualisation
1) Draw Concept Cards
Each player draws a hand of 7 cards from the core deck, or from their own personal collection.
2) Lay Cards
All cards are laid face up at the centre of the table. This is the concept pool.
If you are bringing your own cards, don’t forget which ones you own so you can reclaim them later!
3) Select Cards
Starting with the oldest player first, take turns to draw one card from the concept pool. After each player draws a card, he takes it into his hand, then the next player takes his turn. Once all players have taken a card, return to the eldest player and repeat the process till all cards are drawn.
4) Form Concept
Each player, starting with the oldest, lays down 5 cards (his choice) from his hand and explains the concept for his character, using the card as inspiration and visualisation aids. Other players can help out with suggestions. Write down your concept into the relevant section.

However, I pointed out to the players that they could use whatever method they choose to come to their five cards, so long as they ended up with 5 Magic Cards.

Pete just happened to have a box or two of cards nearby, so the players rejected my carefully built fortune deck (I took three hours selecting exactly the right cards to get the Everway feel, dammit), and disdained the random method instead preferring a massive card dump in the middle of the table, and drawing out cards of their choice that caught their eye.

Personally I'm not sure whether that method is easier than mine, or harder, as with a free pick you tend to look for the cards to match your concept, rather than the random cards inspiring fresh character ideas. Ah well...

Regardless, the players settled on the following cards:

Aimee: Stone Rain, Pestilence, Ashen Ghoul, Opportunity, Puppeteer.
Mike: Lance, Castle Sengir, Black Knight, Tormod's Crypt, Resurrection.
Pete: Instigator, Final Punishment, Change of Heart, Angel of Mercy, Noble Purpose.

Aimee created Tiberius, a Senator of Aeternum with a vicious streak and driven by a mix of ruthless ambition and patriotism. Clearly someone is watching too much Rome.

Mike created Caetulicus, a former General, disgraced before being sold into slavery as a gladiator, and now having just earned his freedom. Clearly someone is watching too much Gladiator.

Pete created Oracle, an instigator turned redeemer, who has literally died and returned to life and is now an agent of light. The influences behind this character? Hard to say, but Pete said "Touched By an Angel", cueing the usual Family-Guy-quote choruses of "can you show me where the angel touched you?".

Full character stories follow:

[Asklepios]

Where possible, I've tried to find pictures of the cards that the players drew. Unfortunately due to multiple sets, we might not always get the exact match, and I wasn't always able to find the cards. In these cases I've put a link to Gatherer at the appropriate page.

====

Tiberius, Senator of Aeternum



1: Stone Rain
Tiberius was born during a meteor shower - a particularly ill omen. The augurs claimed that this meant that the family was doomed to misfortune.



2: Pestilence
When Tiberius was eleven, over a perceived slight he cursed his father and his family in Pluto's name. Less than a month later his estate were struck by plague, and his entire family died of painful disease. Tiberius himself was spared, but he blamed himself for rashly calling down the wrath of hell on his kin.

(ASHEN GHOUL - image at gatherer)

3: Ashen Ghoul
Ever since his family's death Tiberius has been haunted by visions and dreams of his family rising from the grave to seek revenge against him. Tiberius is troubled especially by this, as he has often also has other prophetic dreams, which have invariably come true.

(OPPORTUNITY - image at gatherer)

4: Opportunity
As a noble patrician son, and the victim of terrible circumstance, Tiberius was adopted by a seemingly kindly Senator who lived in Aeternum. This Senator raised him as his own, and seeing a talent in the boy taught him intrigue, oratory and politics.

(PUPPETEER - image at gatherer)

5: Puppeteer
Now a man, Tiberius has haughty good looks and strong bearing. He has little trouble bending people to his will, and has developed a spiderweb-like network of contacts and informants.

====

Aimee described Tiberius as being played by John Simm, who I think is this guy:



Haughty good looks? Bah, not IMHO. No accounting for Aimee's taste in men though...

[Asklepios]

"General" Caetulicus, The Warrior

(LANCE - image at gatherer)

1: Lance
This represents the aspect of the warrior, as a defender of the Republic.
Caetulicus was once a lauded general of Ravenspear, with several legions under his command and several major victories under his belt. His tactical acumen was matched only be his sheer presence, and his skill in leading and inspiring men.



2: Castle Sengir
This represents the source of evil and threat.
Dark conspirators within Aeternum grew threatened by the rising star that was Caetulicus. The decision was made that he had to be dealt with, and swiftly. Why the conspirators targeted Caetulicus in particular is not known - perhaps Caetulicus offended the a man of power without knowing or caring, or perhaps they simply saw that he was destined to become a great power in the city, and did not want to share. Regardless, he was marked for destruction.



3: Black Knight
This represents the forces of evil personified - a single evil personality wh is my enemy.
The Shadow Guild of Aeternum hired a single man who was expert at destroying lives. Though Caetulicus never discovered this man's name, he knew that this single agent was responsible for the trouble's to come, and on one occasion glimpsed his tormentor's face.



4: Tormod's Crypt
This represents death of all the character stood for.
Caetulicus was not killed but he may as well have been. He was disgraced, stripped of command, and framed for many gruesome crimes. The finances of his family were destroyed, and he was drummed out of society. Finally, friendless and alone, he was kidnapped and sold into slavery, eventually finding his way to the gladiatorial arenas.

(RESURRECTION - image at gatherer)

5: Resurrection
This represents a return to life, and regaining purpose and will.
Within the arenas the comradeship of the school, the patronage of a tough but likeable lanista, and the roar of the crowds brought a broken man back to life. With military discipline and a general's command skill Caetulicus fought his way to fame, albeit with few of his fans knowing his greater past.
Caetulicus has determined that he will regain his freedom. Partially he wants revenge on those who destroyed him. Partially, he simp;y wishes to be the man he was once more - a proud defender of the Republic, and a soldier.

====

Mike described Caetulicus as being played by Matt Damon, who I guess post-Bourne is as good an action hero as Russel Crowe...



...probably.

[Charade]

This is pretty dang cool. I'm liking this world that's evolving from this and the Legends game. Your loyal fans are cheering you on, so keep up the good work.

[Master Of Desaster]

Dup die dup ... So I guess I will take my magic cards to a con tomorrow - just to give players a good Idea how to create Interesting chars ...